Empty Void
by dreamer82687
Summary: Before she was missing, Sydney unknowingly was pregnant with Vaughn's child and gave birth to it while she was 'Julia'. As Sydney is trying to get on with life, a young girl appears and turns out to be her daughter. What will Syd and Vaughn do now?
1. Default Chapter

Sydney Bristow half heartedly walked through the CIA office. Ever since she had met Vaughn's wife, life had become a drag for her. Nothing to look forward to for tomorrow, and nothing to look back on from yesterday. Her life felt empty and void. She sighed as she flipped through the folders on her desk. She wished they could just hurry up and find the damn Rambaldi code.   
  
"Sydney, we're meeting in the conference room now." Dixon ordered as he passed by her desk.  
  
Sydney slightly nodded and followed him. She took a deep breath as she saw Vaughn and Lauren sitting next to each other.   
  
"Vaughn...Lauren." she managed to say as she flashed a quick smile. She sat down in her chair, hoping the meeting would be very brief. She couldn't stand seeing the two of them together.   
  
Soon a picture of a two year old girl appeared on the screen. She had shoulder length brown hair with big, deep, brown eyes.   
  
"This young girl," Dixon said pointing at the screen, "has been seen with Sark on numerous occasions."  
  
"So Sark has a kid." Weiss commented.  
  
"Maybe, maybe not, but this girl has been seen helping him perform operations." Dixon replied.  
  
"A two year old?" Sydney asked.  
  
"A two year old's very small and can fit into small spaces." Lauren answered coldly.  
  
Sydney rolled her eyes at Lauren's tone. "But two year olds can also be reckless and set off triggers to alarm systems." she fired back.  
  
"The point, ladies," Dixon interrupted, "is that we need this child in custody. Sydney and Vaughn, you're going to Zurich. Your plane will be leaving in approximately one hour. Good luck."

* * *

Sydney looked over at Vaughn as they stepped off of the elevator into the ballroom. "Ready?" she asked.  
  
Vaughn nodded. "As always."  
  
Sydney and Vaughn went there seperate ways as they looked around for the little girl.   
  
"I found her." Vaughn said into the headset as he saw her playing with toys in a corner. Sydney soon appeared and they studied little girl, planning their next move.  
  
"I got it." Vaughn replied as he walked over to her. He sat down next to her and picked up one of her toys. "Wow, this is a cool toy."  
  
"Thanks." she replied as she continued to do what she was doing.  
  
"You know, my wife has a barbie dollhouse complete with furniture for the dolls and everything."  
  
"Really?" her eyes lit up as she looked at him.   
  
"Yeah! I can show you now if you want." he tried luring her into coming with him.  
  
The girl stood up and dropped her toy, leaving her mess in the corner behind.

* * *

"That was quick." Sydney commented as Vaughn appeared at the van.  
  
"Julia!" the girl shouted as she saw Sydney. She ran torwards her and gave her a big hug.  
  
"Um." Sydney said as she looked over at Vaughn. "You know me?"  
  
"Of course I do." she grinned. "You're my mommy." 


	2. Ophelia

Sydney and all the other vital CIA agents watched as Dixon and the psychologist attempted to question the little girl. So far they weren't able to get anything out of her except her name. She said her name was Ophelia.  
  
_Ophelia._   
  
Sydney had always dreamed of naming her child that. She loved that name. It was a name that every single one of the baby dolls she played with when she was younger was named.   
  
She swallowed the lump in her throat that was now beginning to form. The little girl who claimed to be hers could in fact be her daughter. The thought of having a child of her own and that the beautiful little girl being questioned was _hers_ made her lightheaded. She grabbed a chair for support as her mind went into a tailspin.  
  
"You shouldn't worry." her father assured her as he appeared by her side.  
  
"Easy for you to say." she responded as she ran her fingers through her hair.  
  
"Sark could have put her up to this." Lauren commented as she folded her arms.  
  
Sydney winced in annoyance at Lauren's voice. Her cheesy accent irritated her every time she heard it.   
  
"If Sark put her up to it, she would have said so by now." she answered.  
  
"Who knows?" Lauren continued. "You never know what a two year old could do."  
  
"Obviously _you_ don't." Sydney muttered under her breath.  
  
"What was that?" Lauren asked, hearing Sydney's comment.  
  
"I said obviously you don't know what a two year old can do. Quit the act, Lauren, you're a CIA agent.. Liaison.. _whatever_ the hell you are.. my point is, you're not a pediatrician so stop trying to act like one."  
  
"Okay, that is enough from the both of you!" Vaughn finally interjected. "Can we just go at least an hour without hearing the two of you argue over something?"  
  
Sydney sighed and walked away from Lauren and Vaughn. Hearing him stand up for Lauren made her nauseous. A lot of things were starting to make her nauseous; especially the fact life was nowhere near where it used to be before she disappeared. Everyone acted as if nothing had changed and as if she had been there for the past two years. Too many things were going on at one time and she didn't know how much more she could take.   
  
She got to the point where she was barely functioning. She went through her days like a robot, and then would go home and stare into the darkness. She couldn't fall asleep although she was always tired. She couldn't even cry or scream even though at often times she wanted to. She felt like she was in a hole that she couldn't dig herself out of.  
  
"Hey, quit sulking over there." Weiss ordered as he stood next to her.  
  
"It's a little tempting with my situation." she responded.  
  
"Syd, I hate seeing you like this." he sighed sympathetically.   
  
"I do too." she admitted as she looked up at him.  
  
"Then look on the bright side," he began, "you always have the pure satisfaction of kicking someone's ass during an assignment."  
  
Sydney let out a small laugh as the forgotten dimple on her cheek suddenly appeared.  
  
"There's that smile that I love." he winked.  
  
Before Sydney could say anything else, Dixon came out of the room.  
  
"Have you found anything?" Jack asked.  
  
"No." Dixon shook his head. "She can't really tell us that much. All we know is that her name is Ophelia."  
  
Sydney looked down to the ground, still shaken up by her name.  
  
"She wants to see you." he continued as he turned to look at Sydney.  
  
Sydney slowly looked up as she saw all eyes were on her. She lethargically shuffled her feet and made her way into the interrogation room.   
  
Instead of making it like a normal interrogation room that they used for normal prisoners, Dixon had ordered for them to supply toys and other things so that Ophelia wouldn't be frightened.  
  
Sydney smiled and sat down in a beanbag chair next to Ophelia who was playing with a doll.  
  
"Hi, Ophelia." she finally said.  
  
"Hi." Ophelia grinned brightly.  
  
Sydney looked helplessly from Ophelia to the door. "Um.. I used to have a doll like that."  
  
Ophelia continued to play with her doll.  
  
"Guess what her name was?" Sydney asked.  
  
"What?"   
  
"Ophelia." she answered.

* * *

"These interrogations aren't getting us very far." Dixon commented in dissatisfaction. "I want a DNA test done on her right now to find out who her parents are."  
  
"She says her mother is Sydney." Vaughn replied.  
  
"Well it's time we find out the truth."  
  
Vaughn nodded and turned to look at Sydney and Ophelia. He had a feeling that Sydney was the mother and a vibe that he was somehow involved.

* * *

**_Note from the author:_**

Thank you all for your reviews. They are really appreciated. I took into mind what most of you said. This is my first Alias story so you have to mind me. Keep the reviews coming and I'll keep the chapters coming. Thanks =)


	3. Single Tear Drop

Lauren tapped her watch impatiently as she stood in the vacant warehouse. She had called Sark and informed him to meet her ten minutes ago. Of many things that she didn't like such as Sydney Bristow, she hated tardiness.  
  
Suddenly the echo of screeching tires filled the warehouse and Sark appeared before her.  
  
"You're late." she said bitterly.  
  
"Well I was having a meeting with a very important client of mine.." he defended himself. "..now I'm at your service."  
  
"The CIA is performing a DNA test on the girl." she said getting straight to the point.  
  
"Ophelia?" Sark asked.  
  
A fidgety Lauren nodded.  
  
"Ah, I see what's bothering." he studied her carefully.  
  
"Nothing's bothering me." she lied. "I'm perfectly fine."  
  
"No, you know there is a huge possibility that Ophelia is the child Sydney and Vaughn share together, and you're scared that he would think his duty to the child is greater than the duty he has to you." he smirked.  
  
"I'm married to Michael." she snapped. "I'm _sure_ I would know how to keep a hold on him by now."  
  
"Oh, do you?" Sark asked sardonically.  
  
A perturbed Lauren rolled her eyes and continued. "I'm going to do something about these results."  
  
"Really? And what might that be?"  
  
Lauren grinned as she looked up at him. "We will just have to wait and see, won't we?"

* * *

Sydney let out a sigh as she paced the hallway. They were waiting for the DNA test results and she was more nervous then ever. If Ophelia was really hers, she didn't know what she was going to do. She hardly had time to spend by herself, so how would she find time to spend with Ophelia?  
  
She wrung her hands as she whispered over and over to herself not to worry. She looked over at Vaughn who looked just as nervous as her and sat down beside him.  
  
"Hey." she said quietly.  
  
"Hey." he replied.  
  
"I'm kind of nervous." she paused. "How about you? Not.. that.. you should be nervous or anything..."  
  
"Actually I am somewhat nervous." he confessed.  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"I think..." he hesitated, "I think Ophelia could be mine. Ours."  
  
Sydney bit her lip at the possibility. She knew Lauren wouldn't be too pleased. "What if she is?" she sighed.  
  
"I don't know. That's the part that's making me nervous." he then turned to look at her. "Sydney, you know that-"  
  
"..you have a commitment to Lauren and if you are the father you can't just abandon that commitment." Sydney cut him off. "I know. And no matter how much it hurts, I respect that. If you _are_ the father, I'm not going to call you in the middle of the night, I'm not going to ruin special occasions you have with Lauren. I won't do any of that. All that I ask is that you be there for her when she needs you most. That's all that I ask."  
  
Vaughn smiled in admiration of Sydney's selflessness. That was one of the things that caused him to fall in love with her. She thought of people before herself, no matter how much she was suffering and no matter how deep the pain was that she was feeling.  
  
"I'll be there." he assured. "Not only for Ophelia, but I'll be there for you." he added in a hushed tone.  
  
A single tear filled Sydney's eye as she felt that special connection. "Thank you."  
  
"Vaughn, darling!" Lauren greeted, interrupting Sydney and Vaughn's moment.  
  
"Lauren." he responded, immediately standing up. "I was just talking to Sydney about Ophelia."  
  
"Were you?" she asked tightly as she looked at Sydney.  
  
"Yeah, um.. I think we all need to have a little talk." Vaughn said.  
  
The beeping of Lauren's pager interrupted them and she quickly excused herself.  
  
"Right on time." she muttered under her breath as she headed towards the lab. There was no way she was going to stand around and talk about the possibilities of Ophelia being Vaughn's child. It made her even more determined and more willing to do what she was about to do.  
  
A few moments later, Lauren sat at the computer in the lab in which the results would be found. She waited restlessly as the results began to appear.  
  
Ophelia.  
  
Mother, Sydney Bristow.  
  
Father, Michael Vaughn.

* * *

Sydney stood in anticipation as Dixon appeared. He looked quiet disturbed as he approached her and Vaughn.  
  
"Well, did you get the results?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah." he said quietly as he looked down at the ground.  
  
"Well?" she pressed on, a little bit scared with his behavior.  
  
"You are Ophelia's mother." Dixon began.  
  
"Oh my." Sydney said in shock. Ophelia was _hers_. _Her_ daughter. _Her_ seed.  
  
"Who's the father?" Vaughn spoke up.  
  
Sydney studied Dixon as he delayed the answer. "Dixon?"  
  
"I don't know if you can handle this." he told Sydney truthfully.  
  
"Come on Dixon," she laughed, "I can handle anything.. right?"  
  
Dixon sighed, knowing the destruction one name could do to Sydney. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the look on Sydney's face.  
  
"The father is.." he hesitated, "The father is Sark."

* * *

"Vaughn!" Sydney called breathlessly as she ran after Vaughn.

"You should get home to Ophelia and daddy Sark now." he responded, obviously hurt.

"Vaughn, I'm just as shocked as you are." she said.

"Oh really? So I'm guessing you don't keep track of who you sleep with nowadays, huh?"

Sydney closed her eyes as Vaughn's tone stung her. "Vaughn, please don't do this."

"I don't even know why for a minute I was actually excited about having a child.. about sharing a child with you and now.. now what I think and feel isn't really any of your business anymore."

"Have you thought about how I feel?" she cried. "Wow, I have a daughter. That's enough to chew on, but I get my mouth stuffed with the fact that _Sark _is the father. That somehow I slept with him and I hope I was drunk."

"Look on the bright side," he said scornfully, "you don't have to worry about him having a wife that you hate."

"Vaughn, this isn't fair!" she protested at the way he was treating the situation.

"You know what Sydney, get it now that Ophelia is not my daughter so I no longer have any type of connection to you. So now that we know that she's not mine, stay away from me and Lauren okay? Please." Vaughn briskly walked away and left Sydney standing in the rain as a single tear drop filled her eye.

"Do you know what the name Ophelia means?" Jack asked as he stood beside her.

"No." she said softly.

"It means helper." he replied. With that said, he left an overwhelmed Sydney to think things through.


	4. Nightlight

Sydney stumbled through the darkness as she made her way to Ophelia's room. After what had seemed a restlessness night, she had finally gone to bed, only to be interrupted by her daughter's cries.  
  
"What's wrong?" Sydney asked as she turned on the lights.  
  
"I'm hungry." Ophelia responded.  
  
Sydney smiled down at Ophelia's tear streaked face and took her by the hand. "Let's see what we can find to eat."  
  
Ophelia smiled and walked with Sydney into the kitchen. Soon they were sitting down at the table with cookies and milk.  
  
"Is it good?" Sydney asked as she watched Ophelia happily eat the cookies.  
  
Unable to open her mouth and talk, Ophelia nodded her head.  
  
"So," Sydney tried to start a conversation, "how do you like it here."  
  
"It's nice." Ophelia replied as she pushed her plate onto the table as a signal that she was full.  
  
"Ready to go back to bed now?" Sydney asked as she stood up.  
  
"I'm scared." Ophelia shook her head.  
  
"Why?" a concerned Sydney asked.  
  
"It's dark." she responded as the images of the dark rooms she used to stay in filled her head.  
  
"Would you like to sleep with me?" Sydney asked.  
  
Ophelia smiled and nodded as she ran off to Sydney's room. She jumped in the bed and Sydney laid down beside her. Not knowing what to do, Sydney nervously patted Ophelia's head.  
  
Noting that Ophelia liked it, she sank down farther into the bed and began to stroke her hair until Ophelia went to sleep.  
  
Sydney could not go to sleep. All she could do was look at Ophelia. She was beautiful. She was hers.  
  
Sydney smiled and closed her eyes.  
  
She had a daughter. But she was Sark's.  
  
Sydney quickly opened her eyes, not wanting pictures of Sark to flash through her nightmares. She looked around in the dark feeling that he was watching her. A chill went down her spine as she pulled the covers closer to her and moved in closer to Ophelia.  
  
Finally, she turned the light on only to see nothing was there. Reassured, Sydney sighed and went to sleep... with the light on.

* * *

A tired Sydney ran her fingers through her hair as she sat at her desk. She hadn't gotten that much sleep the night before. She sighed as she continued to type her report.  
  
"Sydney." Lauren's voice said.  
  
"Lauren." she said icily.  
  
"How are things with Ophelia?" Lauren pressed on.  
  
"They're going fine." Sydney replied.  
  
"Have you gotten a child support check yet from Sark?" Lauren smirked.  
  
Sydney sighed impatiently and turned around in her chair to face Lauren. "Even though the DNA tests said that Ophelia is Sark's daughter, he will in no way have any contact with her. I will not accept any contribution from him. As far as I'm concerned right now, Ophelia's father is dead."  
  
Lauren couldn't help but laugh at Sydney's comment. Ophelia's father was more then dead. Her father was her own husband. She loved how Sydney and Vaughn had accepted the fact that Sark was the father and now Vaughn no longer wanted to have anything to do with Sydney.  
  
"Whatever you say." Lauren responded as she quietly walked away.  
  
"Conference room, now." Dixon ordered as he walked by her desk.  
  
Sydney sighed as she gathered her things together. The last thing she wanted was to see Lauren's happy face and the feeling of betrayal in Vaughn's eyes. Ignoring both of them, Sydney sat down and listened to what Dixon had to say.  
  
"Gathering the information which we now know on Ophelia's paternity," Dixon began causing a stir amongst the agents, "I want Sark."  
  
Sydney's head snapped up at Dixon's request. "Why?"  
  
"Ophelia is obviously too young to answer any questions, so I want Sark in custody so we can know exactly what he's being doing with her for the past few years." Dixon replied.  
  
"Sydney, given your tie to Sark, I will be sending Vaughn and Weiss on this mission-"  
  
"I want to go." Sydney cut him off.  
  
"I don't think that would be such a good idea." Dixon answered.  
  
"Let her go." Jack spoke up.  
  
Sydney looked over at her father with gratefulness.  
  
"Fine." Dixon said. "You and Vaughn will be leaving in an hour. Good luck."

* * *

Vaughn and Sydney stood in the warehouse as they waited for Sark. He was scheduled to meet someone and he was late.  
  
Soon he appeared with a briefcase and began to talk to a man who had been standing there for 30 minutes.  
  
"You have the information I asked you for?" Sark asked him.  
  
"Yes." the man nodded as he handed over a folder.  
  
Sark sat his briefcase down on the ground and began to flip through the folder. He then pulled out a few pictures and looked at them in satisfaction. "Perfect."  
  
"I wonder what those pictures are." Sydney whispered to Vaughn.  
  
Vaughn just shrugged his shoulders as he continued to look on.  
  
"Even though you have sworn that you will tell no one of this," Sark began, "I trust no one." he quickly pulled out a gun and shot the man, sending him falling to the ground.  
  
"Don't move!" Vaughn yelled as he drew a gun to Sark's neck.  
  
"Well if it isn't Agent Vaughn and Mrs. Bristow." Sark said sarcastically.  
  
"What did you do to my daughter?" Sydney asked.  
  
"You mean our daughter?" he laughed. "I was just a loving father to her since her mother was dead."  
  
"You will never be a father to her again." Sydney said angrily.  
  
"So easy for you to say." Sark smirked. He then gasped as Vaughn pressed the gun deeper into his neck.  
  
"Give me the folder." Vaughn demanded.  
  
"Sorry, I just can't do that." Sark said defiantly.  
  
"I said give it to me." Vaughn's voice rose as he began to pull the trigger.  
  
"Vaughn!" Sydney objected to Vaughn's actions.  
  
Sark still refused to hand over the papers.  
  
Showing no mercy, Vaughn began to pull the trigger when suddenly Sydney knocked him out.  
  
Sark took a deep breath as he looked at her in surprise. "What did you do that for?"  
  
"No matter how much I hate you, you're still Ophelia's father." she replied.  
  
Sark smiled and picked up his suitcase. "I have something for you."  
  
"I don't want it. Just get out of here." she instructed.  
  
Sark reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He laid it down on the ground and left the warehouse.  
  
Sydney stared down at it for a couple of minutes and finally picked it up. She slowly opened it and gasped at what it was.  
  
It was a nightlight.

* * *

Hey guys, sorry that it took me so long to put up a new chapter. I had exams last week so I didn't really have time. Thanks for all the reviews you've made! 


	5. Blood Donor

Vaughn slowly opened his eyes to see Sydney pacing the floor of the plane. A sudden sharp pain attacked his head, and then he remembered. He had been knocked out.  
  
By Sydney.  
  
He slowly began to push himself up, preparing to get his questions answered. His hand lost its grip and he want sliding back down into the position he had previously been in.  
  
At the sound of Vaughn falling down into his seat, Sydney immediately spun around and helped him up.  
  
"Thank you." he grunted as she got him into a sitting position.  
  
Sydney just nodded as guilt was written all over her face.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Vaughn asked.  
  
Sydney's mind began to spin as she thought of what to tell him. If she told him that she didn't want Sark to die because of his connection to her daughter, then everyone would start throwing accusations at her. She had to think of something quick and smart and she needed to think of it now.  
  
"Well?" Vaughn pressed on as Sydney looked down at her hands.  
  
"Look, we're both aware somewhat of the items in that folder that Sark had... right?" she began.  
  
Vaughn slowly nodded, wondering what her point was.  
  
"Well, if we had killed Sark or taken him into custody we would have never really known why those pictures were so important. I mean, yes we would have seen what they were, but obviously he needs to use them for something." Sydney mindlessly babbled.  
  
"What do you mean?" a confused Vaughn asked.  
  
"I think we should wait just a little bit longer and see what he's going to do with those photos. It could be an operation that the Covenant is working on and could probably give us some great leads in the future." she answered as she ended her lie.  
  
Vaughn nodded as what she said began to make sense. "You're right."  
  
Sydney flashed Vaughn a grateful smile.  
  
"You know, for a second I thought you knocked me out because Sark is your daughter's father." Vaughn chuckled. "How bizarre was that thought?"  
  
"Very bizarre."  
  
Dixon stared at Vaughn and Sydney as they arrived into his office. "Did you get him?"  
  
Sydney took a deep breath as she looked over at Vaughn. "Not exactly."  
  
"When we found Sark he was receiving a folder from a man." Vaughn began.  
  
"Did you see what was in this folder?"  
  
"Pictures." Sydney answered.  
  
"Of what?" Dixon asked.  
  
"We don't know." Vaughn replied. "The reason why we didn't capture Sark was because we thought that these pictures are somehow important to an operation by the Covenant, and we thought it would be best to see it develop somewhat. It might give us a few clues to what happened to Ophelia."  
  
"I see." Dixon said as he began to nod his head. "Good job. We'll see where this will lead us. You can go."  
  
Sydney smiled at Dixon and walked out of the office. That had gone smoothly.  
  
"Sydney." her father said abruptly as he approached her. "Ophelia was just admitted to the hospital, don't ask questions or waste time, just go."  
  
A disturbed Sydney nodded and left in a hurry for the hospital.  
  
Sydney sniffed as she looked down at her daughter in the hospital bed. There were machines and tubes everywhere. She gently stroked Ophelia's hand. She looked so fragile.  
  
"Miss Bristow?" a voice interrupted her thoughts.  
  
"Yes?" Sydney replied as she turned around to face a doctor.  
  
"I'm Doctor Hendley. Could I talk to you about your daughter's condition?" he asked.  
  
Sydney nodded and they both stepped into the hall.  
  
"I don't know if you were previously aware of this, but Ophelia has what we call acute lymphocytic leukemia. Her bone marrow is making too many lymphocytes, which is causing her other blood cells to overcrowd." the doctor informed her. "We've started to give her medications to stop the cells from being produced in the bone marrow."  
  
"Is it working?" Sydney asked.  
  
"Somewhat." the doctor sighed. "During the process, some of her red blood cells were lost so we need to perform a blood transfusion."  
  
"Okay, I can- I can do it now." Sydney replied as she began to take off her coat.  
  
"I've looked into your medical records and your blood isn't compatible with Ophelia's. I was wondering if you could get her father down here for a blood test." he said.  
  
Sydney cringed at the thought of having Sark near Ophelia. "Yeah, I'll ask him to come down here."  
  
"Good. Just page me whenever he gets here and ask him to get here as soon as possible." the doctor said before he walked away.  
  
"Dixon." Sydney said hurriedly when she had connected to him.  
  
"Yes?" he replied.  
  
"I need to get in contact with Sark but I don't know how."  
  
"Why do you need to contact him?" Dixon asked.  
  
"Ophelia needs a blood transfusion and our blood isn't compatible..." she began.  
  
"So you need Sark's blood." Dixon finished.  
  
"Yeah." she sighed.  
  
"I'll see what I can do." he replied and then hung up.  
  
"Miss Bristow!" Doctor Hendley said as he appeared in front of her again.  
  
"Yes? Is something wrong?" she asked concerned.  
  
"No, we've found a match for Ophelia. A man just donated his blood." he informed her.  
  
"Really!" Sydney exclaimed as a grin spread across her face. "Who was it?"  
  
"His name was Michael Vaughn." 


	6. Working Together

Sydney smiled in satisfaction as she put the final decoration in its place. Today was Ophelia's third birthday and she was throwing her a small birthday party.  
  
"Ding dong!" Ophelia shouted as the doorbell rang.  
  
Sydney opened the door to see Weiss with a present. "Weiss, hey!" she greeted him.  
  
"So this chick finally agreed to go out to dinner with me but I told her I had a party. She asked if there would be booze and I told her no, it was my 3-year-old friend's birthday party. So yeah, that went well." he babbled as he entered the house.  
  
"You're such a good sport." Sydney laughed.  
  
The doorbell rang and more people began to pour in, Vaughn and Lauren were last.  
  
"Hi." Sydney said as she forced a smile.  
  
"Hello." Lauren responded.  
  
Vaughn just smiled and handed Sydney Ophelia's present.  
  
"Well," Sydney said as she entered the dining room, "it's time to cut the cake."  
  
"A big piece would be nice." Weiss joked.  
  
After everyone sang happy birthday, Sydney cut the cake and of course Weiss got his big piece. The doorbell then rang once again, which confused Sydney because everyone she had invited was already there.  
  
She walked to the door and slowly opened it to see Sark standing there. "What do you want?" she asked tightly.  
  
"You didn't think I was going to miss my daughter's third birthday... now did you?" Sark replied sarcastically.  
  
Sydney rolled her eyes and snatched the gift out of his hands. "I'll be less than pleased to tell her you stopped by."  
  
"This is no fair." Sark crossed his arms. "I'm her father, I practically raised her."  
  
"My apologies to her for having a person like you to raise her. Now if you'll excuse me I'll take over where you left off." she began to close the door but Sark forced it open and walked into the dining room.  
  
"Sark!" Ophelia said happily as she ran to give him a hug.  
  
"Hey there princess." he said as he hugged her.  
  
"What is he doing here?" Vaughn asked angrily as he looked at Sark.  
  
"He was just leaving." Sydney answered as she glared at him.  
  
"May I talk to you?" Sark asked after he put Ophelia down.  
  
Sydney nodded and led him to the hallway. "Make it quick."  
  
"I thought you might like to see these." Sark said as he handed Sydney the package of photos.  
  
Sydney flipped through the photos to see a man with a younger Ophelia. "Who is this?"  
  
"His name is Vladimir Kaminski. Before the CIA found Ophelia he had kidnapped her. No one knows what he did with her but now he's posing threats." Sark reported.  
  
"What do you mean? He's threatening you?" Sydney asked.  
  
Sark nodded. "I'm afraid he's going to try to come after Ophelia again."  
  
"Why do you care?"  
  
"Whether you like it or not, Ophelia's my daughter just as much as she's yours. You need to accept it whether you like it or not." he answered offended.  
  
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Sydney questioned as she threw the pictures into his hands.  
  
"Because I'm worried about the safety of our daughter. I think that you should let me stay here with you two until he's taken care of." Sark said.  
  
Sydney laughed at his absurd idea. "There is no way that's going to happen."  
  
"If Kaminski believes that we're together he won't hurt you."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"He won't think that you're a CIA officer if you're living with me. Look, I think that we should work on finding out what Kaminski did with Ophelia together." he insisted.  
  
"I still don't see why I should let you stay here with me." Sydney replied not yet fully persuaded.  
  
"Look, if I'm here there's no way he's going to get anywhere near Ophelia."  
  
"But I can just inform the CIA and I'll get them to secure the house."  
  
"Then he'll be suspicious. He'll think that I'm a double agent for the CIA." Sark argued.  
  
"You aren't, so as long as you know you'll be fine." Sydney rolled her eyes.  
  
"Sydney," Sark began, "do you care about Ophelia?"  
  
"Of course I do!"  
  
"Then do this for her. Can't we just put aside our differences to protect her?" he asked.  
  
Sydney sighed. He had a point. "Fine."  
  
"Another thing," he smiled, "you can't tell anyone."  
  
"So what, I have to pretend that we're actually together?" Sydney replied disgusted.  
  
"Yes but only for a little while."  
  
"Fine." Sydney said as she walked away.  
  
"You're still here?" Vaughn asked as Sark reentered the dining room.  
  
"Surprise." Sark grinned. "Sydney and I decided to put aside our differences and become a family." he said as he wrapped his arm around Sydney.  
  
A surprised Sydney played along and forced a smile.  
  
"Ha, I won't believe that until I see you two kiss." an entertained Lauren spoke up.  
  
"There's no need for that." Sydney said quickly.  
  
"Oh come on!" she pressed on. "It can't be that disgusting... you did have to do more then that with him in order to create Ophelia."  
  
Sydney slowly reached up and pecked Sark on the cheek.  
  
"Oh come on!" Weiss said in dissatisfaction.  
  
Sydney rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get a gulp of fresh air." she said as she turned and left.  
  
"Alright, don't be too long lemon cake." Sark winked at her.  
  
"Lemon cake?" Sydney mouthed to herself in disgust. She prayed that she'd have the strength to go through the rest of the night and the next few weeks with Sark.  
  
After everyone left and all the dishes had been clean, Sark came up behind Sydney and whispered in her ear, "Now that I'm here, that nightlight won't be necessary." 


	7. Missing

"How did you sleep last night?" Sark asked as Sydney walked into the kitchen.

"Ew, I forgot you were here." She responded disgusted.

"You slept like an angel." He smirked.

"And how would you know?" she asked as she poured a cup of coffee.

"I watched you."

Sydney nearly jumped out of her skin and dropped her mug on the floor.

"You _creep_!" she seethed. "You're supposed to be focusing your attention on Ophelia, not _me_!"

"And you can be a devil too." He laughed.

"That's _it_!" she screeched. "I'm getting the hell out of here. I'm going to work."

"Go ahead my darling. I'll take care of Ophelia." Sark joked.

"_Never_ call me your darling again in your life, and I will take Ophelia to the daycare. You do whatever it is you do everyday, and I'll take care of _my_ daughter."

"Why are you so scared to leave me alone with _our_ daughter? She adores me." He grinned.

"Creep!" she screamed frustrated as she threw her hands into the air.

Sark laughed obnoxiously as he watched her freak out.

"Run along lemon cake, don't want you to be late for work."

"Of course, _boo biscuit_." Her voice dripped bitter sweetly.

"Boo biscuit." Sark repeated. "I like that."

As he pondered his new given nickname, a bagel hit him square in the face and an angry Sydney slammed the door to her bedroom.

"Good morning, _lemon cake_." Lauren snickered as Sydney walked into the office.

Sydney stopped walking and took in a deep breath. "Anything I could help you with, _Lauren_?"

"No, nothing. I'm sure Sark will take care of it all." She replied sarcastically.

"And I'm sure Neutrogena could take care of that pimple on your cheek." Sydney shot back.

"Sydney," Vaughn interrupted, "not _here_, not _now_."

"I hate you both." She said childishly as she turned and walked away.

"You have a phone call, Miss Bristow." Her secretary said over the speaker as she entered her office.

Sydney sighed and picked up the phone. "Bristow."

"Sydney, it's Sark."

Sydney rolled her eyes in irritation. Just what she needed. "What do you want? I'm at work."

"Something's wrong with Ophelia." He continued, ignoring her bitterness.

"What? Is she ok?"

"Sydney…" he paused, "she's gone."

"_What?_" Sydney screamed into the phone. "What do you mean she's gone?"

"The daycare called and said she's missing. I don't know where she is, if I knew I would have her by now."

"How can a daycare not keep track of her?" she ranted as she paced her floor.

"I think he took her." Sark said quietly.

"Who? The Russian guy?" Sydney questioned.

"Who else? He's done it before, he could be doing it again."

"So how do we find him?"

"We go to Russia."


End file.
